Love & Honor
by Akisuke101
Summary: Melody is a member of the Southern Water Tribe or at least she was before she was taken prisoner by the Fire Nation. With some help, she is released and becomes best friends with the prince-to-be, Zuko. But is best friends all they'll ever be?


The water moved swiftly underneath the canoe, as I gazed at glaciers that varied in size scattered around us. My father Hinto was moving his hands in a rhythmic motion, bringing his hands back on one side and then switching to do the same on the other. The men on the other canoes did the same as well, moving their arms as the children played with the snow that had collected. There were two or three younger teens on each canoe, me being the youngest of them all at ten. We were smiling, laughing and having fun together like we usually did after a Waterbending session. We were a part of the Southern Water Tribe and my father was the Chief. My mother, Kicha was sitting behind me on the small seat, weaving my hair into a tight braid as I played with two of my friends, changing small amounts of snow into pure water and then trying to turn it back into ice again. We lost concentration easily when we were doing this, going into a fit of giggles when someone would try to change the form and would end up splashing themselves in the face. I felt mom place the blue headband, with the Southern Water Tribe insignia, carefully onto my hair and then kiss my head.  
"Look at your daughter Hinto, isn't she gorgeous?" cooed my mother, placing her hands onto my shoulders. Dad smiled down at me as he moved his arms.  
"Yes! She is very beautiful… And look at her technique! My, she'll be one of the finest Waterbenders in the history of Waterbenders." He said with a smile, making my friends giggle as I blushed. He stopped moving his arms for a moment and leaned over so he was level with my face. "Maybe even as good as Avatar Kuruk." He smiled, my friends peeking from behind him and gasping. He kissed my forehead and continued to move our boat along.  
It wasn't long before we saw our village in the distance, a wide glacier surrounded by water and ice. The laughter had died down a bit, our energy running low from how hard we had worked ourselves, even if we were just playing. Waterbending took a lot of concentration and stamina to master, and at our age our stamina was drained by the time we reached home. I watched my father's hands as he moved them back and forth, my eyes drooping slightly as I sat on my mother's lap, my head on her chest. She was gazing at the water, her face thoughtful. I snuggled closer, feeling her warmth through our many layers of clothes. I gazed off into the distance, seeing glaciers in the shapes of distant mountains and on pieces of snow covered land penguins were sliding on their stomachs, making only a tiny splash as they entered the water. It was relatively quiet and pretty peaceful in the South Pole. I loved living here, this was my life and I couldn't wait to learn more Waterbending. I wanted to be the greatest Waterbender ever.  
But something just didn't feel right…  
"Look out!" shouted one of the men on the other canoes. All of us turned to see a blinding light coming towards us… A fireball. It collided roughly with the water, a giant wall of water tilting all of the canoes over. The men managed to freeze the wave before their kids could fall into the icy water, sending us tumbling clumsily or falling hard onto the ice. I landed with a loud thud on my back next to some other children. I winced in pain as I looked towards the direction the attack came from. In the distance, four ships were sailing towards us, the Fire Nation ships. Us children had only heard stories about the things they had done to our people. But what did they want now?  
"Come now children you have to leave leave! Yatome, Hayate, take them back and tell the soldiers to start building our defenses!" called my father to a man to my right. He helped me stand and quickly spoke. "Everything is going to be fine, don't worry Melody, just go with Yatome."  
"But daddy I want to help you and mommy!"  
"Melody not now! Please just go with Yatome!" he ordered to me. I blinked but nodded to my father, giving him a hug before I ran to join the other children. Yatome and Hayate were ahead of us making a path. I hadn't made it ten feet from all of the commotion before I heard a crash and the ice lifted and broke underneath my feet. We all screamed as we were thrown into the cold water. I felt the cold sink through my clothes and through my skin to my bones. I opened my eyes quickly, looking into the water just in time to see another fireball hit the surface and begin sinking quickly. I moved my cold limbs as fast as I could. Dodging the ball, I breached the surface. Gasping for breath, my teeth chattered noisily as I gazed around, seeing everyone scattered and the adults already gliding towards the Fire Nation ships to fight. My eyes widened as I moved out of the way of another gigantic rock that sent a wave over my head. I raised my hands in a frantic motion trying to concentrate hard enough to freeze the water like my father had done but I barely managed to make a small section of the wave glaze over before it sent me under. More fireballs went through the surface as I frantically searched for a solid piece of land to take refuge on. I went to the surface once more and swam to the nearest glacier I could see, pulling myself onto it quickly. I dodged penguins, collapsing behind the mountain of ice protruding from the ground, seeing a cloud of moisture leave my mouth from the cold. I couldn't see any of the kids but the sound of metal slicing through the ice was much nearer than I expected. Peaking around the corner, I watched as two of the Fire Nation ships pulled to a stop and opened their doors, troops pouring out. Suddenly a sound of hissing filled the air as the water and fire canceled each other out. My father and two of his men were moving in synch, deflecting the Fire Nation soldiers' attacks.  
"AH! DAD!" I screamed as I was grabbed from my hood and thrown under the arm of one of the soldiers. "Let me go!" I demanded banging on his armor and kicking my feet, but he ignored me completely and began jumping across the pieces of ice, deflecting the water with his fire. Without warning the water beneath us shot into the air and froze the soldier, whose grip released, making me slide down the small ice hill. My father rushed over to me and helped me up.  
"Sweetheart are you alright?" he asked out of breath. I just nodded before he pushed me behind him, bringing up a wall of water to protect us from a strand of fire that had been sent towards us. More soldiers left the ships and soon I could feel the heat of the flames as my father deflected and countered as many attacks as he could. I just clutched the fabric of his pants, wishing it would all stop. With one hand he grabbed my arm and pulled me along with him as we started running. Tons of flames were shot at us but my father easily deflected them as we ran in the uncooperative snow.  
I ran as fast as I could to stay close to him but I slipped on a piece of the ice, falling to my knees. Before my father could turn around and grab me more fireballs were sent towards him and I was suddenly wrapped inside a net of some sort, being dragged back towards the Fire Nation ships by one of the soldiers.  
"Dad!" I called, struggling against the net. I turned my head to see a group of soldiers surrounded him in the distance, preparing to fire. The cold metal of the ship was underneath me and the last thing I saw before the door closed was the destruction these men had caused and my father's saddened face as my voice echoed through the South Pole, "DAD!"

I felt like a caged animal… My people surrounding me in their own separate cages, all of us quiet and feeling completely defeated. Our once proud spirits as Southern Waterbenders had dimmed and I couldn't blame them… We were prisoners of the Fire Nation for the crimes of being ourselves. Closest familiar face to me was Yatome, huddled in the corner of his cell that was closest to me. He was my father's best friend and even though we were stuck in this prison he was still looking out for me.  
Whenever we were given water our arms and feet were bound and every time I looked down at the guards' faces they had no compassion, no mercy. Almost completely blank. They were the ones who were being cruel and vicious to the other members of my tribe yet we were the animals. It was cold and lonely in this place, and every night I would lay on the cool, metal floor of the cell gazing at the moon through the distant window on the wall for hours. It shone brightly on me as if to comfort me when I cried… Like the moon spirit truly cared about me and my people.  
There was one man who treated us well… He was a kind, older man who always tried to treat us nicely. He wasn't always the guard who took care of us but whenever he was he would try to make me smile instead of being so depressed all the time. I think he was the only reason I was able to survive in such a terrible place and he gave me hope that not all people living in or affiliated with the Fire Nation were evil.  
It was 3 months after I had been put in my cage when something happened.  
"Come here young Waterbender." Said the old man beckoning to me from the front of my cell as I approached him. Yatome approached curiously from the side of his cell as well.  
"Yes?" I replied confused as he moved as close as possible even though he couldn't reach the bars.  
"The Fire princess herself is on her way here to speak to you. I think she wants to free you from this prison!" he said happily. My eyes widened in shock.  
"But… But why?"  
"I don't know exactly but I do know she'll be here any moment so I have to go for now. I will be back shortly." He said with a final smile before rushing back through the door on the opposite end of the room. I looked over to Yatome with a confused expression, my heart beating fast. He only shrugged as I went back to a sitting position. Hope surged through me as I waited for what seemed like forever for his return… But the minute I heard the door the older man had left out of open again my gaze shot up and I was kneeling by the bars again, my hands on the metal.  
Her gown was a brilliant red like most Fire Nation with a bit of gold, her hair down and flowing except for the top part that was pulled into a bun with a gold decorative hair piece. The Fire princess was beautiful and as she approached with the older man, I saw a kind smile come onto her face, complementing her golden eyes. Her voice was calm and loving.  
"Hello, my name is Ursa." She said and I bowed my head respectfully. "I overheard your friend here talking about a child being kept in this prison and it intrigued me so I questioned him about it. I was hoping it was not true but since it is I cannot, as a mother and a Fire Nation princess, allow you to stay here. This is not a place for a child to live in for the rest of their life, no matter what Nation they are from."  
"But… Princess… I'm a Waterbender. I thought the Fire Nation didn't like us…"  
"I know you are a Waterbender but the fact of the matter is, you are a child. May I ask your name?"  
"Melody…"  
"That is a beautiful name Melody. Now, I do not condone the imprisonment of your people but I cannot interfere with the Fire Lord's orders. I can however take you out of this place if you'd want to. I have convinced my husband to let me give you a place to say in one of the extra rooms in the palace. Would you like that?" she asked me, her smile still kind and generous. I took her offer into deep consideration as I looked over to Yatome who was nodding his head.  
"What about Yatome? Can he come with me?" I asked hopefully but her smile suddenly faded.  
"I'm sorry… I cannot release him. I'm barely getting away with getting you out dear…" she said and I looked to him again.  
"Don't worry about me Melody. You have a chance to get out of this place and live your life… I'll be able to leave one day. I'm sure of it. Go with Fire princess Ursa."  
"But-"  
"No buts. Go with her." He said, his eyes almost pleading. I looked down and took in a deep breath before I met the eyes of the Fire princess once more.  
"I would like that very much… Thank you Princess."  
"Please, call me Ursa." She said, her smile returning as she nodded for the older man to open the door. He approached my cell and inserted the key, turning it until I heard the wonderful noise of the lock click and the door creak open. He helped me as I jumped down onto the platform they were standing on. Ursa knelt down so she was eye level with me and dusted me off. "I'll take you to the room you will be staying in and then we'll get you cleaned up." She said sweetly, standing up again and holding out a hand. I grabbed it and began walking with her, gazing back to Yatome who was smiling. He waved at me and I did this same, my heart a little heavy that I was leaving him behind but I knew that some way, somehow I would free him. One day…

The comb in Ursa's hand flowed smoothly through my hair as I sat there quietly, taking in my new surroundings. I had just finished bathing after 3 months of just sitting in my stinky prison clothes and I never thought I could feel so clean ever in my life. My room, though it was an extra room, was still pretty big and decorated in the symbolic red and gold of the Fire Nation. This was a huge contrast to all of the blue and white that accompanied my tribe in their clothes, accessories and pretty much everything else that we owned.  
"Thank you Ursa… For everything you're doing for me. It was terrible in there…"  
"Don't think anything of it dear. I couldn't let a young girl stay in a place like that… You are someone's child and I'm sure they would not have you live like that." She said sweetly, continuing to comb my hair.  
"You said you were a mother… How many kids do you have?" I asked curiously.  
"I have two. Zuko is my eldest son, he's about ten years old just like you and such a great boy. Azula is my daughter, she's of course younger than Zuko and she's… Interesting to say the least. She loves to terrorize her brother and sometimes I really do worry about her… But anyway, do you have any siblings?"  
"No… I was my parents' only child. My dad is the Chief of the tribe or… At least I think he is."  
"You think?"  
"Well, I don't know if my mother and father are even alive anymore. He wasn't in the prison and the last time I saw him he was surrounded by Fire Nation…"  
"Oh… I'm very sorry to hear that Melody." She said sincerely as she pulled the top of my hair into a bun like hers but wrapping it with a red ribbon and then finally placing her hands on my shoulders. "There… All done. Now, you have to lay low and stay within the palace for a little while until the time comes where you will be able to wonder around the city. I'll try to enroll you in the Fire Nation academy so that you will be able to blend in better but that might take some time. If you do leave this room to take a walk around just try to be careful where you wander... Oh yes, and no one, I mean _no one_, can know you are a Waterbender or it might cause a lot of trouble for you." She added and I nodded. Ursa gazed out the window and sighed, rising to her feet. "Well, it's dark so I have to go. I hope you enjoy it here Melody and don't be afraid, you're free." Ursa made her way to the door but when she opened it she stopped. "And Melody…"  
"Yes?" I replied, turning to face her.  
"You might be living in the Fire Nation now, dressing like we do and learning our ways… But don't ever forget who you truly are." With that she closed the door and I was left in my new room… Alone. I looked in the mirror to see my reflection in it. A Southern Water Tribe Chief's daughter dressed in the attire of a Fire Nation citizen… Forced to cope with a lifestyle I didn't want have to survive. My sad blue eyes contrasted the red in my clothes as I lifted my hand to touch my face. I sighed and stood up, walking to the window and gazed up at the moon. It calmed me down, helping me realize that it was time for me to grow up and be smarter and more mature than ever. I was now a part of the Fire Nation and my new life was starting now.

**Avatar: The Last Airbender Characters/Story (c) Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko**  
**All Original Characters/Plot (c) Me**  
**(This is _fanfiction_ and I do not claim any of Dante and Bryan's work, I only use their story as a guide/basis for mine. It's purely for fun. Please don't steal my story, thank you! :])**


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